Body found in freezer at Florida warehouse ID’d as woman missing since 2013

MARGATE, Fla. – The body of a woman who vanished over five years ago was found inside a freezer at a Florida scrap business last month, the Sun Sentinel reports.

Business owner Lilian Argueta told the paper she opened the discarded freezer and screamed after seeing what she thought at first was the body of a “witch or a mannequin.”

The body belonged to Heather Anne Lacey, a 29-year-old mother of two who was last seen in November, 2013, according to the Sentinel.

The freezer reportedly belonged to Jonathan Escarzaga, who was found dead in his apartment in February. The manager of the unit reportedly had the appliances sent to the scrap warehouse, where Argueta made the grisly discovery.

She told the paper that it appeared Lacey’s palms were pointed toward the inside of the door, and her legs were drawn up against her body as if she had been trying to push it open.

It’s not yet clear if Escarzaga and Lacey knew each other.

Police are withholding full results of an autopsy by the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office until the investigation into her death if finished.